Pennsylvania attorney general's office, state police raid Scranton School District administration building

The Scranton-Times Tribune

Investigators were at the Scranton School District administration building Tuesday. Investigators seized files and carried out several computers to a truck marked "Office of the Attorney General."

Investigators were at the Scranton School District administration building Tuesday. Investigators seized files and carried out several computers to a truck marked "Office of the Attorney General." (The Scranton-Times Tribune)

Sarah Hofius Hall, Joseph KohutOf The Scranton Times-Tribune

The corruption probe of the Scranton School District intensified Tuesday, as law enforcement agents raided the offices of the school board secretary and transportation director and left with documents and computers.

Following September’s arrest of the former fleet manager, the state investigation of the financially struggling school district appeared to expand, as more than a dozen agents from state police and the attorney general’s office spent six hours in the administration building. While investigators have visited the building several times this year, Tuesday’s visit was the most visible.

For the past year, the district has faced intense scrutiny from the state, from entering financial watch status, to Auditor General Eugene DePasquale issuing a scathing report last fall, criticizing district leadership and operations. The auditor general also questioned the costs of the district’s no-bid contracts with DeNaples Transportation, and some school directors later questioned whether prior contracts were even legal.

By 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, several agents carried out boxes and packed them into a SUV parked out front. Throughout the day, other agents removed computer towers and carried them to a large truck marked “Office of Attorney General.”

District officials said the timing of Tuesday’s raid came as a surprise. Superintendent Alexis Kirijan, Ed.D., said she first learned of the raid as she walked back to the building from a meeting downtown. Kirijan said the attorney general’s office did not provide details of what agents searched for, but that they visited offices throughout the building. She said she did not ask them for specifics because agents are welcome to examine all records.

“We are cooperating 100 percent,” she said. “Whatever they need, we’re in full cooperation with them.”

This is not the first time the attorney general’s office visited the administration building. Agents made an unexpected visit to the district on April 12 to request documents. An investigator from the state police and another from the state attorney general’s office also visited the school district March 19. Joe Grace, spokesman for the attorney general’s office, had no comment Tuesday.

In May, investigators raided the West Elm Street business owned by the district’s former fleet manager, Daniel Sansky. After a statewide grand jury investigation, law enforcement arrested Sansky in September. He faces seven felony charges, including corrupt organizations, dealing in unlawful proceeds, criminal conspiracy and theft by deception. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 18.

School Director Greg Popil, sworn in earlier this month, visited the administration building to drop off paperwork Tuesday morning.

“It’s humiliating, it’s embarrassing, and it’s about time,” he said about the raid.

Directors Katie Gilmartin and Paige Gebhardt Cognetti also visited the building Tuesday.

“I am certainly happy to see the attorney general taking action,” Gilmartin said. “This is a difficult issue to face, but we need to do it.”

Cognetti said that the sooner the investigation unfolds, the sooner the district can move forward.

“Corruption has plagued this area for far too long. People are tired of hearing their hometown used as a punchline,” she said in a statement.

The district’s no-bid bus contracts with DeNaples Transportation have long been criticized by state auditors general.

Directors have questioned the signatures on the contracts, also the subject of criticism from two state auditors general. State audits show the district far outspent the state allowance for transportation costs.

Last year, DePasquale found from 2007 through 2016, the district paid DeNaples $26.1 million — including more than $4 million in questionable fuel surcharges. Auditors found costs exceeded the “final formula allowance” by more than $11 million during the 2012-13 through 2015-16 fiscal years.

More recently, some school directors have questioned whether prior contracts were even legal. This summer, DeNaples proposed freezing the per-bus fee for the remainder of the contract, which goes through the 2021-22 school year, and providing $100,000 a year to help the district enhance academic programs. DeNaples would give the savings in exchange for the school board ratifying previous contracts. The company revoked the offer last month after the school board failed to vote on the proposal.

Efforts to reach officials with DeNaples Transportation were unsuccessful Tuesday.